NewsWatch: Summary of Top Stories

CBS.MarketWatch.com

Stocks close down yet ahead for week . . .

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- ended the week on a down note as investors prepared for a potpourri of next week. Some investors locked in a portion of the heady profits realized earlier in the week. The Dow
DJIA, +0.35%
declined 66.52 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7906.50. For the week, the key gauge ran up 205.76 points, or 2.7 percent. rose and yields
TYX, -1.12%
sank.

Stock indexes

Street awaits key economic guidance . . .

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Heading into the new week, Wall Street will watch for a bevy of fresh economic data and policy-making news that could move the markets. Top developments on investors' radar screens include the Federal Reserve's latest decision on interest rates, a look at January's employment situation and a snapshot of U.S. manufacturers' business outlook.

MADISON, N.J. (CBS.MW) -- American Home Products
AHP, -52.38%
, jilted by would-be suitor SmithKline Beecham PLC
SBH, -0.06%
, is almost certain to see its market value tumble on Monday following SmithKline's stunning announcement that it is pursuing a merger with Glaxo Wellcome PLC
GLX, +0.00%
. Shares of American Home Products had risen more than 15 percent since Jan. 20, when the New Jersey-based maker of drugs and other consumer products said it was exploring a combination with the much larger SmithKline, headquartered in Britain.

GOP warns of big-government budget . . .

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans warned that President Clinton's forthcoming 1999 budget and its $100 billion in new domestic programs would reignite a push toward big government just as federal surpluses are in sight. Hoping to counter that argument, officials familiar with Clinton's spending plan said Saturday it would reduce the government's civilian workforce next year to 1,824,000 employees.

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- U.S. technology stocks finished a strong week with another gain. Some analysts think the rally will roll on in the coming week amid optimism about Asian economic rescue programs and expected strong earnings from Cisco Systems Inc.
WDC, +1.23%
Cisco closed down 5/8 at 63 1/8, but hit successive 52-week highs this week, in anticipation of a positive after the market closes Tuesday.

U.S. GDP soars in 1997 as output expands . . .

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Despite a drop in business investments, the U.S. economy turned in one of its best performances in a decade. The economy expanded at a robust 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter and at a 3.8 percent annual rate during 1997, the Commerce Department reported. U.S. inflation was 2 percent for the year and 1.5 percent for the last quarter.

Rubin, Greenspan defend IMF . . .

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Worried that Asia's financial crisis could spread, the government's point men on the economy went to Capitol Hill to defend its $18 billion backing of an International Monetary Fund-led rescue plan. "The United States has critical economic and national security interests at stake in promoting restoration of financial stability in Asia," Treasury Secretary Rubin told the House Banking Committee. "When we support IMF-led reform programs, our purpose is clear: to protect and benefit the American people."

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Time Warner's
TWX, -28.57%
Turner Broadcasting is in discussions with General Electric's
GE, +1.82%NBC regarding the creation of a new pro football league, a task that might pose a vast challenge for the two network's executives, one analyst says.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Apple Computer
AAPL, +1.30%
, struggling to regain its footing in an increasingly competitive computer industry, will shift its focus to low-cost "appliance" type of computers, according to Oracle Corp
ORCL, +0.26%
. Chairman Larry Ellison, a member of Apple's board. "I think you'll see Apple concentrate on products that cost $500 to $1,500 as opposed to $2,000 or $3,000 to $6,000," said Ellison, a vocal proponent of low-cost network computers that take most of their software from a network.

ROUND ROCK, Texas (CBS.MW) -- The fastest-growing computer company of the 1990s went out of business Friday when Mac
AAPL, +1.30%
clone-maker Power Computing shut its doors. The colorful, 4-year-old company, which traded its main assets to Apple Computer
AAPL, +1.30%
for $100 million in Apple stock last September, closed down in accordance with a shareholder vote taken Monday, said John Teets, general counsel for the Round Rock, Texas-based company.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Preview Travel
PTVL, +0.00%
CFO Ken Pelowski talks for the first time about the travel service and content provider. It offers reservations over its own Web site, and has strategic distribution alliances with America Online
aol
, a significant stockholder, and Excite
xcit
. It also creates travel-related television shows for syndication but has slowly been moving away from that business into the online segment.

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Western Digital Corp.
WDC, +1.23%
climbed 9 percent after the company surpassed analysts' expectations by posting a fourth-quarter profit. The disk drive maker reported an operating income of 3 cents a share, excluding charges for inventory write-down and cancellations. Wall Street's consensus estimate was for a loss of one penny. A year ago, Western Digital earned 73 cents a share.

Silver gains as supplies decline . . .

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- March silver rose 2.3 percent as U.S. supplies continue to decline. In the latest count, silver stocks in exchange-certified warehouses fell 415,513 ounces to 103.820 million ounces, nearing a 13-year low. However, speculation regarding market manipulation continues to surround the silver market, limiting gains.

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Reuters Holdings PLC
rtrsy
's U.S.-listed shares fell for a second day on word that a grand jury is investigating charges that Reuters' U.S.-based Analytics division improperly obtained and used information from rival service Bloomberg L.P. Reuters shares dropped 4 1/2, or 8 percent, to 53 3/8 on trading volume 10 times heavier than average.

For a complete listing of today's stories see U.S. economy goes on the Defense . . .

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohenmade his first appearance before the U.S. House BankingCommittee on Friday. Outside, beneath a rich-blue sky, protesters carried signs that said "Support People, Not Bankers." Cohen, a former Maine senator and the only Republican in President Clinton's White House Cabinet, said he found himself dogging the footsteps of U.S. Treasury Department officials on a recent trip to Asia. Now, U.S. defense secretaries don't ordinarily find themselves on a House Banking dais. Matter of fact, it was the first time ever.

Erdman's World: Deficits, rates and . . .

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- In his testimony this week, remained very high on the state of the , despite what has happened in Asia. He shares my view that Japan is going to weather the storm, which means that the worst is over and that we are now dealing with a definable problem there.

Soapbox: E-commerce has way to go . . .

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- The Internet had a killer Christmas. Electronic commerce surged to record highs as more and more shoppers discovered the convenience of the Web as a virtual shopping mall. Yet NationsBanc Montgomery Securities analyst David Readerman said the e-commerce industry still has a lot to prove and difficult issues to resolve.

Young woman surfaces in titanic furor . . .

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Like most of my fellow Americans, Zapman has been shockedthis week by all the headlines. How could this young woman surface after all this time? Is this all made up?I'm referring, of course, to the startling story in the Weekly World News about the corpse of the 33-year-old Titanic passenger that has come to the surface after 66 years at the bottom of the Atlantic.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- The software landscape is littered with burned-out wrecks of spunky companies that came up with a great idea, only to have it appropriated by Microsoft
MSFT, +1.05%
. Setting aside the thorny issue of how the world's largest software company got that way -- we'll leave that to the Justice Department -- CBS MarketWatch merely points out that investors in the volatile software sector
$cwx
need always to be aware of rumblings from Redmond, Wash. Case in point: Check Point.
chkpf

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